i do know if it came from david axlerod's white house address it would have to be.ing anything is sir couple vented or not. i don't know whether or not, i think it may be a gray area in the presidential records act. and make it clear before we sign off. >> julie: major garrett, thank you very very much and brad bleakman, we appreciate

david axlerod sent out a six-page e-mail refuting a lot of what they called myths about health care. >> and asking recipients to keep forwarding it to their friends and neighbors. >> they are stepping up their offensive using the play books they used from the campaign, going viral and we will see the president tomorrow out in montana and colorado doing the same kind of town hall he did before. they are even trying to open these town halls up so they can refute these claims that they are stacking these town halls with people. >> here is a question that intreegs me. at these town hauls, these lawmakers go out there and have exchanges with their constituents, is it more likely that the lawmaker changes the view of the con stitt went or the con stitt went changes the view of the lawmaker? >> i think the way you said the question tells us the answer. the lawmaker comes back and thinks, i have got some information. politicians, they are magical thinkers. they are in their offices. they don't know what's going on. they have polls and wizards that come in and tell them what the public is thi

. >> this one in white house senior advisor david axlerod. >> it is important to address misconceptions or misimpression that is have been left out there about the bill. >> one of those misconceptions, so-called death panels. the house version of the bill would provide medicare reimbursements to patients seeking end-of-life counseling, but lawmakers said they dropped that provision from the senate version. >> today the president focus his pitch on a plan that would prevent insurance companies from drops dropping or limiting coverage from those who become seriously ill. >> in other news this morning, a car crash in mount vernonon brought the town to a standstill all because of the high-profile drive driver. >> michael phelps crashed his car last night when he collided with a woman driving a honda. everyone ob ok? >> everyone is ok, and no one was hurt in the crash, including michael phelps. the people that live in that mount vernonon neighborhood are hoping the high-profile accident will draw attention to what they call long-standing safety problems. >> two crunched cars blocked traffic

the memo david axlerod wrote to then senate obama about whether he should run for president. he wrote you care far too much about what is written and said about you. you don't relish combat when it becomes personal and nasty. a lot of not nice things are being written about the president and his health care bill. this combat is personal and nasty. >> i think david axlerod was right at the time about barack obama. he was not somebody who took criticism well, whether it was external or even from some advisers. his memo also goes on to say the campaign can be a proving ground. in many ways i think it was. it was a learning experience for barack obama and a proving ground. fast forward to todays. i think he's use to the criticism. he doesn't particularly like it but knows better how to deal with it there's no question he had a tough july. i think august is a point where he has to sort of rebalance the presidency and get himself back to where he needs to be. >> how do they see the moment, ed? sometimes the president says this is all cable chatter, things will be fine. they have to

it wasn't listed in the e-mail that david axlerod sent out defining principal goals tore health care reform. i didn't see a public option. was that an oversight or was that -- >> i would have to go back and reread. >> are there other parties that take a higher for the president than a public option? >> let me be clear. i thought i was a moment ago but ile take another whack at it. this is an option that provides choice and competition in an otherwise narrow or closed insurance market. that's the president's goal. is to ensure that if you didn't get your health insurance through your employer, didn't have those type of options, that you would have something that might compete with the only game in town. i think that's in the agreement, choice and competition. >> speaking of the e-mail, how was the list for who would receive it determined? >> i believe it is for people that have signed up to receive e-mail updates from the white house. >> the reason i ask is i have received e-mails from people who did not in any, way, shape, or form seek any communication, who have never registered on

david axlerod's son works there. steve: exactly. here's the thing about it. $24 million to buy the ads, that is being bankrolled by the pharmaceutical industry. $24 million from the pharmaceutical industry, pumping into our tv and radio bloodstream and what not, and stuff like that. now, wait just a minute. didn't the pharmaceutical industry strike a backdoor deal with the obama administration regarding health care? oh, yeah. that's why a lot of people are going, hmm. however, the white house deny that axlerod is making any money on it. brian: did you see what bernie goldberg said last night? i thought it was a great point. remember everyone said -- critics. bush administration said, what is dick cheney doing? did he start that work so he could get his halliburton company, they used to be an executive, get all of those contracts to help rebuild iraq? people kept saying halliburton, look at dick cheney. maybe people thought halliburton was the best and only company that would have this type of service. now, who wouldn't go to these two agencies to get your poi

i'm not particularly interested in hearing from david axlerod. >> some people asked why can't fol folks for many, it's a privacy issue. >> jamie: the a.c.l.u. generally steps up in cases like this. they do that a lot of time are outfitted to look at the cases. what are they doing and what do they have to say? >> they don't seem to be too bothered by unsolicited e-mails. last week they asked americans, the so-called fishy comment and the health care debate and take a listen. >> if the white house is creating a less for whatever person of equal to disagreed with the president, that's a problem. if people know there's a chance they will be on such a list, i think that people may feel inhibited in expressing their political views. we will keep you post $. >> we know you will, thanks so much, caroline. >> a fox news alert. major wildfires raging in california. firefighters there continuing to make progress containing the flames. you're looking at live pictures from santa cruz county and we'll be sure to see those pictures soon. strong winds kicking up the flames and there they are, igniting

what does it say when you have david axlerod, you know, meeting with senate democrats and essentially providing a handbook on how to handle these town hall meetings? >> look, they're trying to win back the message here. they don't want to have this august recess totally dominated by people out in america, you know, crying out against the health care bill. they want it to be seen in the media, especially in the local media, local tv. there are two sides to this. they are equally passionate proponents of president obama's health care reform. that's why you saw president obama's aides on capitol hill anything the other side does, we can double that. they're mobilizing their support. president obama's political operation is trying to get their supporters out. >> essentially your saying this fight has only just begun. >> i think it will only get more heated from here. more folks are engaged and the more people sink these reports when a town hall happens in this community, they'll want to show up and express their views. now, that said, this is really drawing out folks on the extremes of bo

david axlerod passed out polling data that showed these are the popular messaging tips.d emphasize that consumer protections, that individuals will not lose their insurance if they have a pre-existing condition that their out-of-pocket costs will be limited. steer it away from proposals that are controversial, such as the public option, which draws a lot of criticism. democrats were encouraged to talk about insurance reforms. they called it consumer protection to try to appeal to a couple of democrats, women, independents, world voters. >> is there any real dialogue or concern tas pertains to the white house and democrats talking about health care reform as to who might be at the root of these disruptions or is that distracting from the message they want out? >> there has been a lot of discussion about that this week. the democratic party leadership has promoted the idea that these are groups that are being organized by washington lobbyists. i think we have heard some senators yesterday, though, say, there are people out there with legitimate concerns. people are not hap

i had a chance to talk to one of his closest advisers, david axlerod.ransitional figure like his latest brother, john f. kennedy. so he gave him his blessing. >> i feel change in the air. >> reporter: it was a defining moment, the passing of the torch. >> i'm proud to stand with him today and offer my help, offer my voice, offer my energy, my commitment to make barack obama the next president of the united states. >> reporter: the liberal lyion f the senate declared barack obama the future of the party. my friends, i ask you to join in this historic journey to have the courage to choose change. >> reporter: the weight of the kennedy legacy giving obama the lift he had been desperately longing for. >> i stand here today with a great deal of humility. i know what your support means. >> it was a critical time during the campaign. >> we were like shot from a cannon. he was in many ways the certification that we needed to people who liked obama, believed in obama but weren't quite sure that he was ready to take the reigns of leadership. >> reporter: when oba

all of those people who didn't ask for white house correspondence wind up with that memo from david axlerod? gretchen: this is a huge story to me. this is huge that the white house is now saying that they no longer have this e-mail box. steve: they shut it down. gretchen: they shut it down. this is big news. the big question today will be whether or not other news outlets will cover this. this is big news. they set up a big website, a big program. people ce mail in their fishy thoughts. and now they're going to shut it down after being in existence only since august 4? remember john cornyn? he wrote that letter to the president saying, hey, there's a big problem with this white house kind of an e-mail setup because what are you going to do with all of those names? he spearheaded this. brian: he said, can you imagine if your pred sayser did that, anyone had access to these e-mail addresses? what would they do with it. now you get an automatic response. there's new procedures with the e-mails in terms of consolidating those people who write you. he says we're implementing measures to make sub

how did the white house get these e-mail addresses of people to send out, from david axlerod a senior advisor about health care. many people, hundreds in fact, written in to fox saying i received the e-mails, i never signed up to get e-mails from the white house, never put my name on the list. what is that list all about? >> this has become known as the get scared issue. let's take the reporter out of it. let's talk about what robert gibbs said. i know you watched this on fox news channel and other channels as well and here is a reminder what happened in the press room. >> if you can check them on a list, aim just asking. >> you're asking me if they're on a list, checking without asking me to double-check the names, i'll be happy to-- >> they're telling me it's not on a list because they never asked for any e-mails. >> so let's get the update on this. >> one of the updates is that fox now filed a freedom of information request with the white house to say is there a list? whose names are on it, to try to get to the bottom of it. how does this work? how could the white house have gotten

hou house, senator obama's as candidate or senator obama as anything and received e-mails from david axlerod >> i want to be very-- i need to give you the people's e-mails so you can check them on a list? >> i'm asking. >> well, you're asking if they're on a list. and they. >> checking without asking to double-check the name. >> they're telling you they're not on a list because they never asked for any e-mail. >> i'd have to look at what you've got major, i appreciate the fact that i have omnipotent clarity as to what you received in your e-mailbox today. today. >> i don't have omnipotent clarity, i'm telling you what i've got e-mails from people who never asked for anything-- >> and go on to something constructive. >> i love hearing grown men using the of term omnipotent clarity. >> not enough. >> and never had omnipotent clarity. >> let's clear it up. a lot of people thought it was a legitimate question, back to major garrett, when you look at e-mails, it could be something sinister in that request, but-- fox news decided to contact the people who received those e-mails and ask them permis